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Featured Grapevine ThreadMortgage / Foreclosure Fraud, Internal Revenue Form 1099-A's and 1099-C'sOne poster offers a horror story about being a victim of mortgage fraud, and makes some very bold assertions. Read more...
Featured Buyer's Guide Category: Fraud PreventionThe top fraud prevention firms are a click away. Survey QuestionOur last survey question was "Will the rise in FHA-insured loans help mitigate potential fraud?" Yes: 5 (15%) No: 27 (84%) Related NewslettersDaily Briefing
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Emeryville Loan Officer Sentenced to Three Years for Kickback SchemeBy James Comtois 
After devising a scheme to fraudulently obtain payments of loan kickbacks, commissions and cash-outs from borrowers’ escrow accounts, a loan officer was sentenced to three years in prison, according to U.S. attorney Joseph P. Russoniello for the Northern District of California. Scott O’Briant, special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation, said that Renato Gonzales Quiazon of Hayward, Calif., was sentenced to three years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for wire fraud and filing false tax returns. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $769,224 to the IRS and victims of his scheme. According to court documents, Quiazon acknowledged that he knowingly devised a scheme to fraudulently obtain payments of loan kickbacks, commissions and cash-outs/extraneous line items from borrowers’ escrow accounts from which he received more than $500,000. Read more...
LandAmerica Makes Fraud Detection Program Available NationwideBy James Comtois After being offered for use in a limited capacity, real estate transaction services provider LandAmerica Financial Group is making its Fraud Detection Program available nationally. The program, which helps the company's agent partners protect their business revenue and avoid potentially costly fraud claims litigation, is being introduced nationwide after being successfully tested among agent partners in LandAmerica's Northwest Region of operations. LandAmerica's Fraud Protection Program, the newest of 30 customized services delivered through the LandAmerica AgentXtra Program, educates agent partners on how they can better identify and combat real estate and mortgage fraud. Agent partners receive this training at no charge through LandAmerica's proprietary fraud detection course. Read more...
News Roundup
Panel Republicans Back Dugan on 'Liar Loans'
Senior Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee are supporting efforts by Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan to curb "stated-income" loans, for which subprime lenders don't verify the borrower's income. Read more...
House Passes GSE Reform Bill
The House has passed the GSE regulatory reform bill by a 313-104 vote after reaffirming that the new regulator cannot use systemic risk as a reason for scaling back the size of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's mortgage portfolios. Read more...
Reich: B&C Guidance Will Be Little Changed
Federal banking regulators could issue subprime mortgage guidance in the next few weeks, and it will look a lot like the original proposal, according to John Reich, director of the Office of Thrift Supervision. Read more...
MBA: Overreach by Feds Could Trigger Crunch
Mortgage Bankers Association chairman John Robbins has urged Congress and federal regulators to refrain from mandating underwriting standards that could precipitate a credit crunch. Read more...
House Nixes Commercial Acquisition of ILCs
The House has passed a bill that prohibits commercial firms, such as WalMart and Home Depot, from gaining control of state-chartered industrial loan companies and entering the banking business. Read more...
Voice of the IndustryJust walk away, Renee...By Ann Fulmer 
“Just walk away, Renee, you won’t see me follow you back home. The empty sidewalks on my block are not the same. You’re not to blame.” — As recorded by the Four Tops, 1968 As the fallout from the mortgage meltdown continues, pundits are scratching their heads as an increasing number of borrowers “just walk away” from their homes. It should come as no surprise that families who purchased homes at the height of the market would walk away when declining market prices left them upside down on their loans. This is especially true for those whose purchases were funded using 100% financing with interest-only teaser-rate ARM loans that are now resetting. What is surprising is the alarming number of walk-aways who have loans a year or more away from a rate reset. Welcome to the hidden world of occupancy fraud, the “x” factor in the meltdown. Read more... |
